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Monday, October 6, 2014

Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past - Review

Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumbRating: 5 StarsSource: NetGalleyDescription: It's Christmas time in East Tennessee and Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and his deputy Joe LaDonne are on their way up to arrest a man for a hit in run. The Haverty's have decided to spend Christmas in their newly restored summer home in the mountains instead of going home to Florida. Neither turns out quite the way they were expecting.Genre: FictionWhy I Picked This Book: I've enjoyed McCrumb's Appalachian Ballad series for years so I was excited when I saw the newest on NetGalley.

My Impression:
Pros: It was absolutely delightful to reconnect with these characters. The story about Arrowood and the rather dour LaDonne is humorous without being overtly funny. I loved how much time they spent wishing that the man had hit car other than a senator's wife's car. They kind of know what's happening and we as readers know what' going on but there's nothing they can do to get out of the situation. The conclusion of this storyline made me actually laugh out loud a little as I could just imagine the expression on LaDonne's face.
The story about the Haverty's and the always wonderful Nora Bonesteel was lovely. I loved that Nora stood up for Mrs. Haverty by saying her heart was in the right place she just didn't know any better. McCrumb did a good job of showing how much this couple didn't really fit in the community without making them stupid or vilifying them in any way. The ghost story was nice and it was interesting to read about the previous residents of the home. The end of this story brought tears to my eyes. This is one of the few books I've read that have had multiple story lines where both are strong but neither diminish the other.

Cons: The only negative is that this was just a novella. I'd have loved to see more about the Haverty's buying and restoring the house and how they felt about the town.

Overall: If you love a little history mixed in with your fiction and strong characters than McCrumb's Ballad series is one you must try. This would be a good (and quick) introduction but I'd be surprised if you don't want to read more!

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Definitely as long as they're from this or her Elizabeth MacPherson series.

I'll put it on the TBR list... though honestly, what I reallly need to do is prune the TBR list. I don't think I could get through all the books on it in 15 years, and that's without ever adding anything new!